The Donkey and the Prince
by MidnightGoddess2112
Summary: Eeyore goes exploring outside of the Hundred Acre Wood and encounters...well, you'll have to read it to find out who! Meanwhile, Pooh and Piglet do a little exploring of their own. Before they know it, all three are up to their ears in adventure. Please review!
1. A Visit to Piglet

Eeyore, the old gray donkey, sat in his corner of the forest doing what he usually did: eating thistles and thinking.  
"Rabbit thinks he has a Brain," he thought, "but he hasn't _really_. Owl acts like he has a Brain, but he hasn't _really_. Most of the others have Fluff, except for Christopher Robin and me. Pathetic. No Wonder this forest is in such Sad Shape. And now that Christopher Robin's gone, the sole Brain in this forest belongs to _me_."  
Since Christopher Robin was now Going To School, the animals saw considerably less of him than they used to. But that only made the time they _did_ have together all the more well-spent.  
"Learning," thought Eeyore. "Education. All Dreadfully Overrated, if you ask me. They never teach you the things you _ought_ to know. Yes, that's what I say, if you ask me. But nobody ever asks me." He sighed gloomily, and chewed his thistles.

At that moment Rabbit appeared. "Hello, Eeyore," he said. "How do you do?"  
"That would depend," replied Eeyore, "on what I was doing. Which, at the moment, is eating these thistles. So I'm doing well, thank you."  
"That's good. Goodbye," Rabbit said, and ran off.  
"That Rabbit," Eeyore said to himself. "Can't live with him, can't live without him. He never stops and Smells The Roses. He never Does Things for the Fun Of It. In fact," he went on, "I doubt he even knows what fun is. Pooh, on the other hoof, is Rabbit's Exact Opposite. You can't go wrong with Pooh, despite him being a Bear of Very Little Brain. But he's lazy, Pooh is. Frightfully lazy. Still, I would far rather spend an Afternoon with him than Rabbit. Or Owl."

Eeyore had long held a deeply rooted contempt for Owl, though he had never shown it. If there was one thing he despised, it was people pretending to be things they weren't, or know things they didn't, for the sake of Maintaining Their Images. Owl fell into the latter category.  
"Spotted and Herbaceous Backson!" the donkey snorted. "Rubbish! There's No Such Thing! Heffalumps and Woozles! Stuff and Nonsense! They're called _elephants_ and _weasels_, and they don't eat honey. Elephants eat grass, and weasels eat...well, what _do _weasels eat?" And he went back to munching.

"Rabbit said that I should Get Out More," he decided, "so that's what I'll do. I shall go and see Piglet."  
It was a nice day for a walk through the forest. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and there were birds singing. Eeyore stumped along, not really taking notice of the beautiful day, until he reached Pooh's and Piglet's house.  
Since Piglet had moved in with Pooh, the front walk was much tidier, and the "Mr. Sanders" sign above the door had been freshly painted. Piglet was out front, picking dandelions.  
"Eeyore!" said Piglet. "What a nice surprise."  
"Surprises are only nice," said Eeyore, "when they're for Someone Else. Certainly not _me_. Is Pooh in?"  
"No, he went round to Kanga's."

"Typical," Eeyore said morosely. "You walk all the way across the forest to someone's house, and they're not in. But that doesn't matter now. I came to see you."  
"To see _me?_" Piglet asked, his ears turning pink.  
"Yes, you."  
"Oh!" said Piglet. "Would you care to come in for a Little Something, then?"  
"No, thank you. I'd better be going."  
"Oh!" said Piglet again. "Well, it was lovely seeing you, Eeyore. Do come round again anytime. Goodbye." And he went back to picking dandelions.  
"Goodbye," called Eeyore over his shoulder as he stumped off.

Eeyore didn't really know where he wanted to go next. No matter where in the forest you went, it all looked more or less the same. Then a thought occurred to him: he would go _outside_ of the forest. Eeyore didn't know what was out there, except for Christopher Robin's School. But he was curious. Once, he supposed, he'd had a Purpose In Life, but it had since been forgotten. Maybe leaving the forest would help him to remember that Purpose. Eeyore couldn't remember the last time he'd been outside of the Hundred Acre Wood. In fact, he couldn't recall _ever_ being outside of the Hundred Acre Wood.

"Better late than never," Eeyore decided. "I shall go _today_."  
And he stumped off towards the edge of the forest.


	2. The Gnome Village

Eeyore reached the edge of the forest and peeked out from between the trees. He saw a wide, grassy meadow stretching out before him. "Not very exciting," Eeyore said to himself, "but it's certainly a Change Of Scenery." And he walked out from the shade of the forest into the bright sunlight.  
It wasn't long before he met a little stream that danced and rippled along as it wandered to and fro through the meadow. Eeyore walked alongside it, occasionally stopping to take a drink. The water tasted cool and clear, unlike any water he'd ever tasted before. "So _this_ is what being Outside The Forest is like," thought Eeyore happily.

Then he saw something interesting. It appeared to be a village of sorts, consisting of little round houses, not much taller than his own, with conical roofs. "Who lives _there?_" Eeyore wondered. No sooner had he thought this than something popped up in front of him, seemingly out of nowhere. "Halt!" a little voice ordered. "Who goes there? State your name and business!"  
Perplexed, Eeyore examined the creature. It looked like a very small man with a long beard, wearing a hat that was shaped like the roofs and wielding a spear. "A gnome!" thought Eeyore. "Of course."  
"Business?" Eeyore said. "I don't _have_ any business. I'm just Passing Through, if you Know What I Mean. But nobody ever does," he added gloomily. "I _do_ have a name, though, if you'd care to hear it. It's Eeyore."

The gnome took his hat off and scratched his head. "Welcome, Eeyore, to our humble village," he said. "My name is Twig. I'm sorry if I startled you, but one can never be too careful with strangers. Especially not now, when things have been amiss around here lately."  
"What sort of things?" Eeyore asked, keenly interested.  
"Come into the Village Center and Moss, our Elder, will tell you."

Twig led Eeyore to the center of the village, where the other gnomes were grouped around a throne of sorts, made of sticks and grass. On it reclined a very fat, white-haired, bespectacled old gnome with the longest beard and tallest hat of all of them. "Who have you got there, Twig?" he asked, peering over his spectacles at Eeyore.  
"This is Eeyore, Elder Moss," Twig said, bowing. "He wants to know about all of the trouble around here lately."  
"Very well, then. Come closer," Moss commanded, pointing at Eeyore. Eeyore obeyed. "Good. Now, Eeyore, look around. What do you notice?"  
Eeyore looked around at the gnomes. Children clung to their mothers' skirts, and there was a general air of apprehension.

"Your people seem frightened," Eeyore observed.  
"That is correct. And they have a good reason." Moss's face grew dark. "Once, Eeyore, we were happy and carefree, as were so many other creatures in the mountains, the forest, and even the swamp. But that was in the past. Before _he_ came."  
"Who's _he?_"  
"The Chaos Lord." All the gnomes shivered. "He came from somewhere in the west, beyond the Diamond Mountains, built a castle on the tallest peak, and proceeded to enslave all the creatures living there so he could put them to work in his terrible mines. Then he took control of the Black Forest, then Greenslime Swamp. He won't stop until every jewel under the mountains is his, and for that, he needs a lot of workers. It's only a matter of time before he reaches us here on the Plain, then the Hundred-Acre Wood."

"But that's my home!" Eeyore cried. "We have to stop him!"  
Moss nodded grimly. "I know. Fortunately, there is a prophecy telling of his defeat. It goes like this." Moss clasped his hands, closed his eyes, and recited:  
_"Two old enemies and three old friends must unite  
__To drive off the Chaos Lord and bring back the light  
Beneath Glowworm Cavern, the dark prince sleeps.  
He alone can help bring about the Chaos Lord's defeat."_

Moss opened his eyes. A few gnomes clapped. "Why didn't you tell us about that prophecy before?" a gnome lady shouted.  
"I was just about to, when Twig showed up with Eeyore," Moss shouted back. "And it's a good thing he did, because I believe he is one of the Five the prophecy speaks of." A low murmuring broke out among the gnomes. Eeyore blinked, trying to process all this.

A little gnome girl pulled away from her mother and stood in front of Eeyore. "Are you going to save us?" she asked.  
"Well, I don't know," Eeyore said sadly. "I'd _like_ to, but I don't think I can. Adventure isn't my Cup Of Tea. Gaiety. Song-and-dance. Not for me at all." The little girl's face fell.  
"Oh, but you wouldn't be doing it _alone_, Eeyore!" Twig said brightly. "The prophecy says that there are _five_ of you. I don't know who this 'dark prince' is, but I know where Glowworm Cavern is!"

All the gnomes started cheering. In spite of himself, Eeyore felt his heart lift. These little people were counting on him. He couldn't let them down. And he couldn't let his home be taken over, either.  
"Alright," he agreed. "I'll do it."  
The gnomes cheered even louder. Two of them popped out of the crowd and stood on either side of Twig. "I'm Bark," said the one on Twig's left.  
"And I'm Fir-cone," said the one on Twig's right. "We'll take you to Glowworm Cavern and wake the prince!"  
"Lead the way, then," said Eeyore. As he followed the three gnomes away from the village, though, he added under his breath, "But if everything goes wrong, don't blame _me_."


	3. Glowworm Cavern

Twig, Bark, and Fir-cone led Eeyore to a hole in the ground, wide enough for even donkeys to go down. "This," Fir-cone said proudly, "is the entrance to Glowworm Cavern."

Eeyore peered into the hole. A faint light came from somewhere inside. "How do we get down?"  
"With this," Bark answered, producing a wooden stake and a coil of rope. He pounded the stake into the ground, tied one end of the rope around it, then threw the other end into the hole.  
"You go first," Twig said encouragingly.

Doubtfully, Eeyore took the rope in his teeth, then shut his eyes and jumped. He slid down the rope and landed with a _thump_. Spitting out the rope, Eeyore opened his eyes and looked around.  
He was in a huge cave. The light came from all the glowworms hanging pretty much everywhere he looked. There were so many, there was no need for any other light. No wonder it was called Glowworm Cavern.  
"Pretty, isn't it?" Twig asked, sliding down next to Eeyore. "I wonder where the dark prince is."  
"Not here, that's for certain," Bark said, looking around.

Eeyore closed his eyes and tried to think. He felt a strange tug somewhere inside him, like an invisible hand pulling him toward the prince. "I think he's in this direction," Eeyore announced, opening his eyes and walking off to the left. The gnomes hurried after him.

Eeyore stopped at a large hole in the cave floor. "Look!" he said.  
"It's a staircase!" Fir-cone whispered. "A spiral staircase!"  
"Going down even further," Twig added nervously. "It looks very dark."  
Bark gave him a look. "Well, if that's where the prince is..."  
"Then let's get going," Fir-cone declared. Twig swallowed hard.

They started down the staircase. Eeyore took the lead, with Bark following, then Fir-cone. Twig brought up the rear. Pretty soon, the light from the glowworms above went out of sight, and it became too dark to see. "I don't like this..." Eeyore heard Twig whisper uncertainly.  
"Be quiet," Bark snapped. "Who knows what might be lurking around down here?" That sounded Ominous to Eeyore, and he heard Twig whimper softly.

Eeyore blinked. Was he imagining things? No, he wasn't. There was a definite glow coming from the bottom of the stairs. Two more spirals down, and the staircase ended.  
"Oh, thank goodness," Fir-cone said. "I was getting dizzy."  
"Shhh," Twig whispered.

The light came from a torch on the wall, illuminating a huge stone door in front of them. There was a hole on one side where the knob should have been.  
Fir-cone gulped. "It looks like...a tomb."  
"But there's no knob," Twig said. "How are we going to get in?"  
"With this, perhaps?" Bark asked, picking up a rounded piece of metal.  
"The knob!" Fir-cone cried. "You found it!"  
"Here, let me," Eeyore said. He took the tarnished knob in his teeth, stood on his hind legs, and inserted it into the hole.

The torch flickered, then went out. Everyone was plunged into darkness. "Aaaahh!" Twig cried out.  
"Oh, don't be such a scaredy-cat," Bark said.  
"You're as bad as my friend Piglet," Eeyore muttered, as the torch blazed back to life.

"Wow!" Fir-cone said. The door was now covered in mysterious glowing symbols that Eeyore couldn't read. The silver knob shone like it had just been polished. With a dreadful creaking noise, the door swung open.  
"I don't like this," Twig whispered. "It could be a trap."  
"Well, there's only one way to find out, isn't there?" Bark inquired. The four adventurers looked at each other, then at the open doorway, and they entered the tomb of the prince.


End file.
